According to am800, there were about 700 fewer voters than four years ago, something DiCarlo wasn’t happy to see.

“Really in the grand scheme of things that’s my only disappointment. I take my voting seriously, obviously and it would have been nice to get a bigger turnout.”

Other municipalities, including some in Essex County, embraced the more progressive online or phone voting method whereas Amherstburg maintained its traditional polling method that yielded predictable results.

Similarly, the result of the decision to issue a policing RFP and not obtain an OPP costing as promised should have been obvious – that the OPP were excluded.

It is difficult to rationalize decisions that cost the taxpayer more than the other options that were dismissed.

The time to examine the effect of decisions is when they are made. Surely, information was available relative to cost, cause and effect of policing and polling.

It will be interesting to see if any of the votes for change will actually result in change.

Unfortunately, since Amherstburg elected a traditional voting method, the most costly and least accessible method, I was unable to vote. And, I’m not optimistic, given the town’s lack of commitment to improving accessibility, that people with disabilities will benefit from increased inclusivity.

I wondered why during the 2014 to 2018 council term the council and Joint Police Advisory Committee met in camera to discuss the policing RFP and the Windsor takeover proposal.

I had hoped that with Leo Meloche’s financial acumen, he would have realized the savings through a Windsor Police takeover were minimal, laughable to some, and cost comparisons should have been examined.

Patricia Simone never answered questions about discrimination while she was an Amherstburg Police Services Board member, which I thought was ironic given her speaking about the discrimination allegations against Windsor Police.

“If you were an elected official, why wouldn’t you want to consider — at least consider — the opportunity to provide the exact same service and save, in this case, $570,000 a year?” Dilkens asked. “I think it would be irresponsible for politicians. It would be irresponsible for me as the mayor of the City of Windsor, if someone presented something to me that would be delivery of the same service and saving me half a million dollars a year. For me, it would be irresponsible not to at least consider it.”

By that logic, wasn’t it irresponsible for Amherstburg’s politicians to not follow through on its motions to obtain an OPP costing and compare ALL the options? To not at least consider the most cost saving option?

The Windsor Star reported on the Amherstburg Fired Department leak of information in September 2015: Miceli wouldn’t give any specifics but said “the big concern came during the fire (department changeover)” when members of the public knew about, and were bringing up at council meetings, facts that were discussed in closed meetings.

Now the Windsor Star reported about an information leak pertaining to the Windsor Police takeover.

“I’m not going to answer it to these guys,” said Rozankovic. “Let’s not kid ourselves. This is all about the policing issue. This is all about things may not go exactly as they liked. They have promised zero cost to this transition at all five of their town hall meetings, and I can guarantee you this will not be the case. It’s that simple. They’ve got to deal with this issue.”

The Windsor Star reported Windsor Police Staff Sgt. Christine Bissonnette continued to lay out the parameters of her human rights’ complaint on Wednesday including allegations of gender bias, discrimination, ageism and harassment against senior ranks of the Windsor Police Service.

In response to the OCPC investigation into Windsor Police, CBC News reported, “Complaints in the field [of policing] are inherent so I can’t say I’m surprised. The Town of Amherstburg​’s police force has had complaints. This is what happens in the business. We’d like to know what the complaints are and the details behind them,” DiCarlo said.

Regarding the same topic, the Windsor Star reported, “They are just complaints, Const. Shawn McCurdy, president of the Amherstburg Police Association, said Monday. “I bet if you went to every police service in the province, you’d find internal complaints.”

That’s right – discrimination, ageism, harassment, questionable hirings and promotions have occurred in Amherstburg, all of which are serious allegations. Shame on anyone who accepts them as the norm.

The Windsor Star reported Lawyer Dan Soulliere, former executive director of Brentwood Recovery Home, sent city councillors a letter last month imploring them to ask questions about the promotional system, leadership and oversight of the service. He said human rights complaints that triggered an investigation of the service underway by a provincial watchdog agency should give councillors reasons for concern.

Council 2018 to 2022

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